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n“You, you! You tried to take what I hid behind my back! The pickpocket Princess!”

n“Rocket?”

nWhen Rieta expressed her doubts, the maid, standing far away from her, spoke.

n“I’m sorry, Princess. But you don’t need to try to look up a dictionary,” she advised.

nAfter Rieta gave her thanks to her maid, she turned to Noel again.

n“I can’t help it. All right, Noel, I’m willing to forgive you for your sins.”

n“Huh? I haven’t even told you what to forgive me for yet?”

n“You called me a ‘rocket’ Princess. She said it was such a bad word that a child wouldn’t need to look it up in a dictionary.”

n“. . .”

n“But I can’t help it because I promised to forgive anything. So I will forgive you.”

n“Do, don’t!”

nNoel exclaimed earnestly.

nHow could he waste the opportunity to be forgiven for saying such an insignificant thing?

n“That’s my fault. I know.”

nNoel murmured and offered a suitable negotiation proposal.

n“You called me a pickpocket too. I don’t even know what that means.”

n“Then tell me the things that you know! There are several! Like stupid!”

nA small sigh could be heard in the distance.

nRieta’s cheeks reddened a little as she understood the meaning of the sigh.

nThe conversation between the Lord and the Princess was so rude, the maid must have let out a sigh.

nRieta suppressed her desire to immediately say, “You stupid Noel!”, and she answered gracefully.

n“I can’t say such undignified things. I am a Princess.”

n“Anyway, I apologized for calling you a pickpocket. So that doesn’t count.”

n“Because Noel always does whatever he wants. Okay, so what are you asking me to forgive you for?”

n“…you really won’t be mad, are you?”

n“Will Noel be afraid if I’m angry?”

nOh, I’m so scared.

nNoel swallowed the words that were about to come out.

nHe couldn’t say that the Princess was scary.

n“Well . . . “

nNoel wiggled his hand that was hidden behind his back.

nIn his hands lay a bag, in which was a set of Rieta’s wooden puzzles, which he had borrowed last winter.

nAt first glance, all the pieces of the puzzle looked fine, but one of them had turned black because it had been sitting in the garden for a long time.

n“Well, you’re not a guest . . . Come on.”

nHe mumbled, still unable to pull out the puzzle.

nOf course, Rieta had no idea what he was talking about, so she only blinked her eyes.

n“Uhh . . .”

nNoel now carefully handed the toy bag to Rieta.

n“I’m, I’m sorry.”

nRieta looked down at the bag.

nNoel opened the opening so wide so that she could see the inside of the bag.

n“Ack . . .?!”

nRieta let out a startled sound, and she picked up the shattered puzzle.

nWhether it was mold or dirt, the puzzle was dirty beyond washing.

nNoel’s heart grew heavier as he saw Rieta hastily rubbing the dirty area with her palm.

nHe knew it was a cherished puzzle, but he realized just how cherished it was.

n“I’m really, really sorry . . . I’m really sorry.”

nNoel repeated the apology in a small voice.

n“Is that why you would run away every time I ask about puzzles?”

n“. . . Yes.”

nThat meant that Noel had been terrified since last winter.

n“How did this happen?”

n“It fell out of the window, and it took a long time to find it in the garden . . .”

n“You were looking for it in the . . . garden? Noel?”

nNoel nodded his head and apologized again in a weak voice.

n“I’m sorry, if I had found it sooner, it wouldn’t have been like this.”

nStupid Noel.

nIt was really cold last winter, how hard must it have been to find the puzzle secretly by himself?

nIf he had spoken to Rieta and honestly asked for help, she would have been more than happy to do so.

nRieta glanced at him for no specific reason, and then she smiled slightly.

n“Okay. I will forgive you.”

nIt’s a puzzle that she really cherishes, but Noel was much more important than the puzzle.

nBesides, seeing how he was so apologetic, she couldn’t help but just wanted to forgive him.

nShe would feel that way even if she hadn’t promised to forgive anything.

n“Re, really?!”

nNoel raised his head to ask, and Rieta nodded happily.

nSee, Noel was also really nice.

nIt’s just his way of expressing himself was a bit crooked.

nBut that was the author’s fault for setting it that way, not Noel’s.

nNoel was innocent

n“Okay. I’ll forgive you. It’s not as though you threw it out the window anyway.”

n“. . . Uh?”

n“One shouldn’t be angry about what happened by mistake.”

n“Uh . . . ”

n“So, don’t worry about the puzzle anymore.”

nRieta smiled as brightly as she could and grabbed the toy bag.

n“And, Noel.”

n“Uh, uh.”

n“Yesterday I agreed to forgive Noel for anything you did.”

n“. . . Yes, you did.”

n“I’m going to use that to forgive you for calling me ‘rocket’ a little while ago.”

n“Well, what about the puzzle?”

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